Now in its fourth year, the soup-off, which benefits St. Francis Catholic High School, is an opportunity to slurp various bisques and broths for a good cause — and, hopefully, a few new meal ideas.

By Alison SchwartzCorrespondent

A can of Campbell's soup doesn't always cut it at the dinner table. And it's certainly not going to cut it at Souper Fun Sunday — a tasty competition bringing together some of the most kitchen-coordinated chefs in the area.

Now in its fourth year, the soup-off, which benefits St. Francis Catholic High School, is an opportunity to slurp various bisques and broths for a good cause — and, hopefully, a few new meal ideas.

Taren Triggs, the publicity director for the event, said there are more than 35 soups on the menu this year, which means there's a stew for even the toughest taste buds. And with that kind of variety, it's no wonder soup is considered such a family-friendly food.

"There's a lot of tradition around family recipes," Triggs said. "Aside from [soup] being a comfort food, a lot of wonderful flavors can be put into one dish."

The best part: It's a lot of spoons for a little clean-up, she said.

"It's a one-dish food, so you're not making a lot of mess," she said. "You can hold it in a bowl and sit at the couch and watch the game."

Before the competition heats up Sunday, serve up some soup straight from the recipe books of some of the participating chefs.

Chop onions, garlic and celery stalk and leaves; saute in butter until soft. Chop dasheen leaves, and add to onions and garlic. Simmer for 10 minutes. Chop the okra, and add along with the thyme and cloves. Continue to cook on low heat for another 10 minutes or until the leaves and the okra are cooked. Blend mixture in a food processor, but do not puree. Add coconut, chicken stock and crab, and simmer for five minutes. Season to taste. Serve hot garnished with a crab claw.

Saboré, Chef William Hernandez

Hernandez will be playing it cool at the competition — literally. The world fusion chef plans on whipping up a lychee gazpacho, which is served chilled in individual shot glasses.

"The restaurant is very unique to Gainesville," restaurant co-owner Peter Ynigo said. "For us, we're just trying to open everyone's mind to something new when it comes to soup."

Coconut, Crab and Lychee Fruit SoupServings: 83 8-ounce cans of lychee fruit4 8-ounce cans of coconut milk4 ounces of ginger, peeled and chopped2 ounces of cilantro1 pound of lump crab meatsalt and white pepper to tasteIn a medium-sized bowl, combine the coconut milk, cilantro, ginger and lychee fruit. Blend all of these ingredients to a fine puree. After the soup is blended, refrigerate for 8 hours before serving. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Serve in a martini glass, and garnish with the lump crab meat.

Embers Wood Grill, Chef Briton Dumas

What's better than one bowl of soup? For chef Dumas, the answer is simple: two bowls of soup. The chef is going through double the trouble by serving up two types of soup at the competition because he likes to "do things a little out of the ordinary."

First on the menu: a rich King Crab Bisque, which won the title of "People's Choice" at last year's competition.

Dumas will also serve up Tomatillo Soup garnished with wood-grilled filet mignon.

King Crab BisqueServings: 8Stock:1 diced Vidalia onion2 diced celery ribs2 diced carrots3 king crab leg shells (meat reserved)2 bay leaves1 gallon of waterIn a large stockpot, saute carrots, celery and onion until soft (the onions should be translucent). Add king crab shells, bay leaves and water. Bring to a simmer and reduce by half. Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a container to remove solids. Discard solids and reserve liquids for bisque.